


five times

by kamui (vengeanceheart)



Category: Gintama
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Humor, idk how tags work but lots of banter!, major char death happens offscreen btw, when i say banter i mean fighting and arguing ofc
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-21
Updated: 2019-05-21
Packaged: 2020-03-08 18:23:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,244
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18900130
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vengeanceheart/pseuds/kamui
Summary: in which sougo gets rejected by kagura five times and the one time he maybe doesn't.





	five times

**Author's Note:**

> this is my first published work on ao3 please be kind hahaha and I hope you have fun reading! i don't really know what i'm doing here but writing okikagu is a lot of fun so I might do this more depending on how this first attempt goes lol. and also thanks to my friend who encouraged me to post something much appreciated <3 also timeline wise, the third scene is pretty directly inspired by that argument/banter in the silver souls arc but it's set later in time than it would have been if it were directly canon.

**one**

The first time is him just running his mouth on his arch nemesis.

He might respect Master and technically the brat was on his side but it didn’t mean he ever had to be nice. He would be just as happy trying to kill her as she would try to kill him. _Metaphorically_ , of course, because allies were valuable, and the Yorozuya had helped save Kondo-san all those years ago so he wasn’t entirely opposed to being on the same side. Also, he fucking hated bureaucrats and their insufferable politics while they were expected to be damn dogs for the government. Maybe Hijikata-san was rubbing off on him just a bit more than he wanted if he started caring about politics than being able to carry this katana around everyday.

“Hah, I really won’t be able to get married at this point….” Kagura’s voice is distinctive and he grins, knowing how infuriated she’ll be once he says the words.

"If no one wants you, I’ll take you." He can hear the surprise in her intake of breath, and he continues, unable to hide the evil smile.

“I’ll even throw in a home with three meals, and a quiet peaceful life…..behind bars.” He finishes, knowing she’s too far to throw anything at him and he is, technically, on official police business while she’s just been caught helping a criminal.

* * *

**two**

The second time isn’t a proposal, it’s a promise.

The Yorozuya and Shinsengumi rarely do missions together nowadays, since the Earth’s fallen apart a bit especially once the politics got even more complicated post Meiji Restoration with foreign powers and all that. Who knew Japan was such a hot commodity?

He spies familiar red hair and before he knows it, he’s walking towards her, needing the quick fix of a sparring to work out some energy before he has to leave.

She sees him coming and glares at him, practically daring him to come closer.

On a whim, when he reaches her he ruffles her hair, and feels immediate gratification when she throws a blow at him that he dodges swiftly. He takes out his bazooka, ready to have a little fun, but Hijikata-san is unfortunately in view.

“Sougo, no firepower before the actual battle!”

Kagura’s triumphant grin at that warning is almost too good to wipe off, so he casually swings a blow back at her instead. Of course, she easily dodges it and something about that rhythm fires up his nerves. Still his best pre-battle ritual, Kagura.

“Hmph, you’re still far too weak to compete with a yato, Sadist, how are you going to fight these damn aliens when you go off on this mission.” Kagura’s fake petulant tone is all but annoying and he almost wants to knock out the condescending smile on her face but he refrains. Sort of.

“Aw China are you worried about a Policeman, how flattering,” His comment wipes her smile immediately and he can practically see the flames flare up in her eyes.

“Just trying to give you a practice grace on my enemies, Gintoki told me it’s a courtesy. And if you really are my arch nemesis, don’t let my name down will you!”

She’s mocking him, but somehow the backhanded compliment gives him an ego stroke, and he’s not trying to look any further into that.

“It’s okay China, I’ll come back for you. We haven’t finished our fight and I still want to see you with broken bones as payback for last time.”

Looking back, maybe it was slightly too cheesy a comment to give to your arch nemesis, but then again the China-Yato girl was something more than just an arch nemesis really.

* * *

**three**

The third time isn't even him, but the damn bastard pirate she calls a brother.

It happens while they're fighting, which is when he's had the best conversations with Kamui anyway. He rarely gets to go all out on a fight that’s not about slaughtering the enemy, but fighting Kamui gives him a sense of satisfaction that’s damn hard to come by.

“What are you even doing on fucking Earth Space Pirate? Shouldn’t you be off wreaking chaos only returning for your ugly sister’s wedding?”

"As if Kagura could ever get married unless someone was under duress. Policeman, have you seen her?" Kamui’s tone is light and mocking.

"Of course, the only thing more sad than her upcoming spinsterhood is you using it as banter for our fight."

"So what, you want to volunteer for the position?" Kamui challenges, still laughing that manical grin that he liked to wear.

"It might be fun to break her, but then again brothers in law with you isn't worth the hassle."

They’re too busy having fun, since fighting with the maniac is always entertaining at least, even if he wants to crush the pirate’s composure half the time.

Except, he’s forgotten for a split second that while Kamui’s temper is legendary, his sister is in a whole nother league. Five seconds later, they’re both standing with some definitely broken bones, and unfortunately for his very mortal body, the pain is a bit harder to brush off like Kamui does.

Kagura glares at both of them. "Dumb sadist and dumb brother, shut up and can you get back to the actual enemies?"

And for a moment despite the chaos and his broken ribs, he feels the weight lift off his shoulders at the comfort he gets in the interaction.

* * *

**four**

The fourth time is half a joke, but then again, he really should pick better timing. It wasn’t his fault though, China looked like _that_ , and call him a sentimalist, but he hates to see Kagura feeling upset by anything but _him_ , it’s his right honestly. Making her lose her temper so he can have a real fight, nothing is ever quite as satisfying, even if they’re too evenly matched for him to really dominate the fights.

It’s only been a week since it happened and considering how many times Gintoki came close to death only to come back fighting, its almost impossible to believe its real, that he’s actually gone.

He should feel some meager satisfaction that he went out along with Takasugi Shinsuke, public enemy number one, but it’s a little tactless, even for his sensibilities.

The last time he’d seen Kagura this listless had been that one time when they’d been kids and she’d faked a hospital stay. He’d known then that she was fine and it’d been funny to watch her scream and suffer but right now, seeing her made him feel queasy in a way that made his skin crawl.

“China, wanna get married? It comes with lifetime government benefits and—“ He can’t finish the sentence bc her fist has hit his mouth and he can definitely taste the blood. At least you’re looking lively now.

Her eyes are red, maybe with anger or maybe with unshed tears but she keeps throwing punches at him that he blocks or dodges, going as hard as he can with the blows he returns, making her work for the eventual win.

Days later when he sees her chattering happily to Shinpachi, back to her old self, maybe he feels a slight buzz that he doesn’t want to name.

* * *

**five**

The fifth time it's not a joke and he’s dead serious, but it’s not like he’s trying to get his head blown off. A man has to be thoughtful about this sort of thing. Although considering Kondo-san and Hijkata-san, he has some terrible examples to follow. He can’t overplay his hand because he’d spook her, but she was also the densest girl he knew.

She might be more of an adult than the other times they’d fought but she still only showed him a stubbornly unchanging attitude that screamed fight me.

More importantly, they’re in the middle of a battle and he really had other things to worry about. They're fighting again, back to back, and as wild as Kagura is, there's no one he'd rather have backing him when it came to a battle.

“You know, we make a fucking awesome team China, we should get married!”

He gets a nasty bruise on his face as she snaps at him, “Over my dead fucking body.”

His shoulder might hurt like a bitch but he lets the sadist grin creep back on his face, a little less sincere than usual.

“China girl, if you aren’t satisfied with this proposal, I can make it more public and romantic next time. I’ve had experience you know?”

He knows she’s far less experienced with dating compared to him, and he can’t help but lash out a bit, since the immediate rejection did sting if he was being candid.

“Don’t you fucking dare,” Kagura spits out at him between gritted teeth. And this time, he dislocates his shoulder from the force of her blow as she leaves him to jump back into battle.

Later when he’s nursing his wounds, he can’t help but think, _why the fuck am I doing this to myself, might as well call myself a masochist for doing this_.

* * *

**six**

The sixth time he tries, he’s being reckless.

It's raining, the trademark summer rain that marks the August anniversary, as the smell of wet leaves and dirt follow them. It’s been a while since he’s seen Kagura, and seeing her again sends a persistent buzz of something in his blood. And for once, they’re not meeting on a battlefield to clear out some enemies.

She looks pretty, although he’d never say so in clear words considering the last time he’d tried to do that it’d sounded closer to his mocking ugly comments than an actual compliment. _Look, I’ve learned self-awareness Hijikata-san_. But her face is far too serious to make an attempt to be candid anyway, the flowers and copy of JUMP she’s holding a cold reminder of their visit.  

The cemetery and plaque had almost looked too somber to contain someone like Master, but somehow it was fitting. He thought years of visiting his sister would have gotten him used to fitting the family plaques to people he'd cared about and lost, but each time it sent a wave of loss through him.

There were two sets of flowers left before they'd arrived, one with a distinctive cigarette smell clinging to them and the other a terrible mismatch to the sentiment cemetery flowers were supposed to be. Hijikata-san must have stopped by earlier, but he couldn't tell who the other flowers belonged to.

"Otae-san." Kagura nods towards the second set of flowers. Her voice is subdued, the way she always is when she visits her hero's grave. It's been years since Master had gone, but it's still hard for her to visit.

They're walking down the path back towards Kabuki-chou, along the river where he had fought countless times, including a few where Kagura had done her fair share in breaking his bones.

"Hey China," he calls out to her, suddenly wanting to shake off the somber mood they're both in and because honestly, he hates seeing her with the deadpan expression, the one she uses to hide her emotions. He might be a selfish asshole, but he’d rather see all her emotions at all times. He takes his katana out, gesturing towards the grass.

“Fancy a fight for old times sake?” The words have scarcely left his mouth when she’s already running towards him,

It's a fleeting second, an opening to land a blow really. And in hindsight, that’s definitely what he should have done, because he was jumping off a cliff with what he’d done instead, as he leans in to kiss her, a brief touch of the lips, before he straightens up. He almost gets away with it but her blow glances off his cheek and it stings like hell though he’ll be damned if he shows it.

Kagura’s eyes are flaming, her telltale temper about to flare and he smiles, the sadist grin she hates so much.

“Marry me China.” He says the word with as much sarcasm as he can, and he sees her eyes narrow despite the smile that twitches at her lips. They aren’t arch nemeses anymore, but he’s gotta keep his bases covered considering the last time he tried.

Without a word, she turns on her heel and marches away back towards the road, pace brisk for someone so short. She’s barely grown taller than she used to be when they ran around trying to save the world, but that could be his extra height he’d gained in the years after he’d turned 18.

“So that’s a yes then?” He calls out as she’s still silent, knowing her.  

She doesn’t say a word back but a gunshot comes from her umbrella, narrowly missing him and he smiles. It’s probably too empty of a grin to call it cheesy because he still makes people shake in fear whenever he cuts their friends open as a mafia boss or whatever his position is called, but the feeling that spreads through his body that feels lighter than air...he finally understands.

Happiness.

It’s what he has a chance at, in this new world that had been built on the blood and sweat of one true samurai he’d known well. _Master, you’re not here to kick my ass for going after China, but if you’re out there, have a drink in our honor will ya?_

 


End file.
